The Lazy Genius Podcast - #44: The Lazy Genius Bakes for the Holidays

Episode Date: December 18, 2017

Today's episode is about baking during the holidays, but there is not a single recipe or tip in sight. You might have just swiped to delete, but I sure hope not. Listen before you bake, friends. It might make your holidays a little sweeter. (Get it? I'll show myself out.) After you listen, check out this post for my holiday baking roundup - recipes, tips, and the correct temperature of butter amen. This is the last episode of 2017! If you're interested in hearing my roundup of the year (favorite books, etc.), be sure to join the mailing list. Enjoy the rest of your holidays! This podcast is hosted by Kendra Adachi and executive produced by Kendra Adachi, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Merry Christmas and the happiest of holidays to you, my friends. You are listening to the Lazy Genius podcast. I'm Kendra and I'm here to help you be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't. Today's episode is episode 44. The Lazy Genius Bakes for the Holidays. We're literally a week away from Christmas Day. So my guess is you've done some baking already.

But today we're getting back to the heart of things. I will mention a few baking tips and have tons of practical resources. in the show notes, which you can see in this episode's info section in your podcast app or at the lazygegeoncollective.com slash lazy slash holiday baking. But right now, I want to focus on why we bake at all and why if you haven't baked anything yet or if it hasn't been as fun as you hoped that that's okay. When I started gathering my thoughts for this episode, I of course Googled holiday baking tips just to see like the general conversation. Y'all, it was so intense.

Everyone is making lists. They're buying all the eggs and cleaning out their pantries and essentially coming at holiday baking like it's a science fair project. I could not find the soul. I couldn't find it. It was all recipes and tips like from professional chefs on the proper temperature of butter. Nothing about community or tradition or the reason we bake it all. If we are driven by our shopping lists and finding the perfect recipes,

I'm afraid we're going to miss the moment we are so desperately trying to create with our holiday baking and with anything around the holidays. So can we just talk for a minute about the soul of baking, especially now? It is not the sexiest topic. I totally agree with that. But I think we lose something really beautiful when we distill it down to just the best gingerbread recipe. Okay, so can you guess what I'm going to ask you? So we get started. Anybody who's been listening for a while?

Do you have any guesses? Why? Why do we do this? Why do we bake around the holidays in the first place? We always need to ask why. My gut answer is because everyone always has. It's just something you're supposed to do, right? I did some research actually into the history of the Christmas cookie, like tradition

specifically. And what I learned, it reminded me of the deepest reason we share food. Sharing food is a way of sharing life. If you look back even to like medieval times, the practice of making and the then sharing baked goods that were flavored with highly prized ingredients. It was a way of sharing life together, feasting and celebrating in a way that really could not be done other times throughout the year. Time wouldn't allow it, money wouldn't allow it, resources wouldn't allow it. Now we can bake whenever we want. And if we don't want to bake, we can buy whatever we want. We can buy from like a

bakery. We can buy high quality treats from a bakery. We can buy Oreos at the store. So desserts don't provide the same function they once did. They aren't reserved for celebrations or baked with great care because ingredients are scarce. They just are. Desserts just are, which sometimes is wonderful. But for this conversation, let's kind of examine why that might not be so great. If we recognize that holiday baking began in order to share life and to celebrate by generous, baking with and sharing like prized ingredients and then given those things away, it puts it back

into perspective, at least for me it does. So here's the thing. If you haven't baked anything yet for Christmas and frankly don't really want to, you don't have to. You don't have to. Holiday baking is not something you have to do despite what the internet says. In fact, it's become so diluted in its original purpose that if you don't enjoy it or connect with the deeper reason behind it, you kind of have a leg up by getting to completely say no to a holiday tradition that's taking you away from traditions you actually want to make time for. So you don't have to do it. If you don't want to do it, you don't have to. But if holiday baking is something you want to make time for, even in these last couple of weeks, let's have a fresh, renewed

perspective. You have two things to consider, just two. The process and the product. Okay? The process of baking, it really might be the only thing. You spend a morning with your family baking. It doesn't matter what. You gather with friends for a cookie swap. You reluctantly put aside your tendency to hover and let your kids make a giant mess decorating cookies shaped like Christmas trees and candy canes. That one is for me. I have such a hard time letting them go crazy and make a mess because I want it to be done slurably. But the process matters. That's the whole point, is the process. and sometimes we forget that. We get too focused on making it happen from a scheduling and planning perspective,

and then we forget about the life and soul behind it. It's about so much more than starting with a clean kitchen and having a comprehensive shopping list so you don't forget a single item or having the best decorative boxes to package up all your treats. Sadly, that's pretty much all the internet gives us recipes and plans. That's it. And then we forget the life and we forget the soul. We forget the process.

So remember that just doing it is a celebration. And the second thing is the product. You might have some treats that you make just at Christmas time. They literally make no appearances otherwise. That matters too. Our family doesn't make buck eyes, those chocolate, the peanut butter balls that are dipped in chocolate. We don't make those any other time other than Christmas. And that means that they take like Christmas time.

now honestly i i like to do baking alone like holiday baking by myself it's like therapy um the process of sitting in a dimly lit kitchen with music playing and everybody's kind of in bed nobody's around that actually gives me life it really really does um and so i just want you to know that like even though i like to bake with people and you might too i want to give you permission that your process and your product they don't need to look like what you think they should look like But I do think that if neither of those two elements are essential, right, if the process is imprised and you're just making another cookie that you can make any other time, right? You don't put any sort of like special value on the actual product, then the holiday baking

experience, it's going to fall flat and it's going to leave your soul feeling kind of wonky. Want to go electric without sacrificing fun? That's the Volkswagen ID4, all electric and thoughtfully designed to elevate your modern lifestyle. The Volkswagen ID4 is fun to drive with instant acceleration that makes city streets feel like open roads, plus a refined interior with innovative technology always at your fingertips. The all-electric ID4, you deserve more fun. Visit vw.ca.ca. to learn more. SUVW, German-engineered for all. Aw, isn't something we need to travel for. It's something waiting for us in everyday life, whether in a city street or a moment with a work of art.

I'm Dr. Keltner, host of the Science of Happiness podcast. Join me for Cities of Aw, a special series on how our public spaces can spark awe, wonder, and enhance the quality of public life. You can find us wherever you listen to your podcasts. We can't help but go into situations with expectations. That's just the way it is, even if we try not to. And if you have holiday baking is another box to check. without giving any thought to the process or the product,

you will be bummed and tired and then resentful of a huge plate of treats that you'll think will only make you fat, right? Isn't that what we do? Like we take out the soul from baking and then we just add in guilt. That is the worst recipe. You guys, oh my gosh, let's not do that place. So today it is December 18th. It's the Monday before Christmas. In the show notes, I have tons of practical holiday baking tips.

I adore baking. I have a lot to say about it. So I will not leave you hanging. But here, this moment, this week before Christmas, I want to remind you of the soul behind your choices. Why are you celebrating the way you're celebrating? What is important to you about Christmas cookies? Do you give plates of treats away because you're supposed to?

Because you always have? When you drop off the cookie plate at your neighbor's house, do you look them in the eye and ask a question? about them, about their lives, or do you just leave? I totally just left. But the point is connection. The point is sharing life through food with the people around you. That's why I love food so much.

It's so ordinary, but it taps into one of the most soulful parts of us. Sharing food is sharing life. So let's move into our holiday baking this last week with that mindset. and hopefully the internet ways of prep and efficiency. And I hate this part, the impressing your neighbor part. Like, these will impress everyone. Nope, not into that, man. And all that will go out the window and it will leave you more settled in your soul.

Because, yeah, I don't want to impress my neighbors. I don't want them to think that I'm so great. I want them to feel care for. Like wanting to make beautiful, tasty treats, it takes on a much different face. when our focus is caring for people rather than impressing them, when it's connecting with people rather than checking off a box. Now, if you are ready for tips and recipes and everything I've ever said about baking, you can go to the lazy genius collective.com slash lazy slash holiday baking.

And I will have links to all the things. Favorite recipes, baking tips, a conversation I had with Jamie Golden from my favorite podcast, the pop cast about baking. We also talked about hot guys because of course we did. But there are some really great tips in that episode as well as in all the posts that I am sharing with you. But today is soul time. Today we need to think about the soul. Don't forget about the soul of holiday baking.

It is way more important than having fancy cookie cutters. So remember, if you do want to bake this last week, think about the process. Is it important? What's it about? how does it fill your soul and the people around you think about the product is what you're making does it carry something special because you only make it at christmas time or is it just another thing that you're doing let's not just do things just because without thinking is everything that you say yes to without thinking about it you have to say no to something else and that something else might be

quiet. It might be sleep. It might be reading a book on your couch. And those things sound really great right now, don't they? Because Christmas is crazy. Like even if you do all the right things, even if you plan and you are intentional, like it still can feel overwhelming. So I mentioned this a lot last week and last week's episode about self-care that a lot of things that are regular and ordinary that do give us life, we don't get to do because of just the natural busyness, even just a couple of extra things. It makes a big difference in taking us away from the things that matter. So let's not make holiday baking something that is steeped in guilt or shoulds.

Put the soul back into it or just don't do it. And that's okay too. Okay. I mentioned cookie cutters a second ago. Speaking of those, the lazy genius tip of the week is about cookies. It's to freeze your cookie dough. If you're using cookie cutter like shaped cookies, like sugar cookies decorating them, freeze them before you bake them.

So roll out your dough, cut your shapes, and then put those shapes on the sheet tray that you're going to put the oven, go ahead and put it in the freezer first. Because if you are making cut out cookies and you want them to keep their shape, putting them in the freezer for even just 15 minutes before you bake them, it helps them hold their shape a lot better because the butter as it freezes, it gets hard, obviously, right? And so when it goes into the oven, it has to work harder to spread out because it's frozen. It has further to go, which means that your shape doesn't lose its shape. It doesn't sort of like get lazy and start to spread really quickly. So what's great to is you'll get into a rhythm of like

one sheet in the oven, one sheet in the freezer, and one being cut out. It's a really lovely little cookie rhythm that leads to not spreading your cookies. So pop those things in the freezer for 15 minutes before you bake them and you will see a difference in the shape of your Christmas cookies. So I want to let you know before we go that I am taking next week off since it's Christmas Day. I'm sure you understand that. But I will be back with an episode on New Year's Day because January 1st, man, that just feels like an exciting thing to be able to talk to each other on January 1st.

I'm really excited about 2018 and spending it with you here. And I sincerely hope that the rest of this year these next couple of weeks is a real gift to you. So blessings to you and yours, my friends. And until next time, be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't. I'll see you next year. I really should not abuse that job. It is overused.

I still have to say it. It's fine. See you guys next year. Have you ever felt like you were living just a B or B plus life? It's so dangerous to live that more dangerous than a B minus or a C plus life because when you're living a B or B plus life, you don't change it. You think it's good enough. Is it?

I'm Susie Welch. I host a podcast called Becoming You. People think, okay, an A-plus life is not available to me, but there is a way. We are all in the process of becoming ourselves. Listen to Becoming You wherever you get your podcasts.